43 A First Avenue, Whangarei CBD, Whangarei
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Hora Hora Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Hora Hora Kindergarten is one of 22 kindergartens governed and managed by the Northland Kindergarten Association (NKA). It is situated close to the central business district of Whangarei and provides six-hour sessions each day for up to 40 children over the age of two years. Families attending the kindergarten have diverse ethnic backgrounds, with approximately one-third being Māori.
The team consists of a head teacher, three other registered teachers, an administrator and a qualified lunch cover staff member.
The kindergarten's philosophy values te reo and tikanga Māori, ako (community of learners), ngā hononga (relationships), and te taiao (environment). It emphasises the importance of providing opportunities for all children to become confident in their own cultural identity and promotes respectful relationships with children and their families. The philosophy stresses the development of the whole child in establishing positive attitudes and approaches to learning.
Positive features identified in the 2015 ERO report continue to be evident. Some progress has been made with the 2015 next steps, particularly in supporting children in mixed-age engagement and the team approach to improving programmes.
This review was part of a cluster of nine kindergarten reviews in the Northland Kindergarten Association.
Teachers welcome children and their whānau into a calm, inclusive environment. Children settle quickly and confidently to self-chosen activities, making connections with friends and engaging them in play. They are eager to talk with teachers and to explore the environment. Teachers encourage children to be confident decision-makers.
Children have positive relationships with teachers and are developing social skills as they play enthusiastically and cooperatively with their peers. Children are becoming familiar with te ao Māori through waiata, karakia and cultural activities. Teachers value and respect family cultures. Several children with additional learning needs are well supported through effective use of Government equity funding.
Teachers provide a wide variety of resources and learning experiences to extend children's interests, learning and development. Teachers regularly discuss the programme and children's learning, particularly their social development and emotional wellbeing. Teachers should now make next learning steps more visible through a documented planning and evaluation process.
Teachers have very good working relationships with parents and whānau. Parents who talked with ERO are enthusiastic about the opportunities their children have at the kindergarten and the relationships they have with teachers. They value how well teachers know their children and how they support children to be independent learners. Some parents comment on their children's learning stories to provide teachers with feedback.
Teachers work well as a team. They are building a cohesive and collaborative approach to teaching and enhancing children's strengths and interests. Teachers are well supported by their professional practice manager (PPM). She is regularly involved with them in programme decision making. Teachers are committed to and participate in ongoing professional development.
Professional practice managers (PPM) regularly visit kindergartens to provide leadership and curriculum guidance for teachers. A Pou Whakarewa Tikanga Māori Advisor works closely with teachers to increase their understanding of and focus on authentically threading te ao Māori into learning programmes. There is an organisation-wide emphasis on providing high quality resources and equipment for children. Leaders and teachers value and respect the thoughtful use of natural resources.
The Association provides a comprehensive policy and procedure framework that sets clear expectations and guides teachers’ practice. It has developed relevant appraisal and teacher inquiry processes that reflect the Teaching Council’s guidelines. Each kindergarten’s annual plan aligns to the Association’s strategic vision, values and goals. NKA employs a speech language therapist and seconds a social worker from Family Works to provide targeted support for children, whānau and teachers.
Leaders and teachers agree that key next steps include:
further developing and supporting leadership in the kindergarten
consolidating assessment, planning and evaluation processes.
Key next steps for Association-wide development include:
further developing assessment, planning and evaluation processes
deepening understanding of evaluative thinking and internal evaluation processes to measure the effectiveness of systems and practices across the Association.
Before the review, the staff and management of Hora Hora Kindergarten completed an ERO Centre Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they have taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
During the review, ERO looked at the service’s systems for managing the following areas that have a potentially high impact on children's wellbeing:
emotional safety (including positive guidance and child protection)
physical safety (including supervision; sleep procedures; accidents; medication; hygiene; excursion policies and procedures)
suitable staffing (including qualification levels; police vetting; teacher registration; ratios)
evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
15 August 2019
The Education Review Office (ERO) is the government department that, as part of its work, reviews early childhood services throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. ERO’s reports provide information for parents and communities about each service’s strengths and next steps for development. ERO’s bicultural evaluation framework Ngā Pou Here is described in SECTION 3 of this report. Early childhood services are partners in the review process and are expected to make use of the review findings to enhance children's wellbeing and learning.
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Location |
Whangarei |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
5011 |
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Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
40 children aged over 2 years |
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Service roll |
49 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 27 Girls 22 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
14 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
June 2019 |
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Date of this report |
15 August 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
September 2015 |
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Education Review |
June 2012 |
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Education Review |
February 2009 |
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ERO’s overarching question for an early childhood education review is ‘How well placed is this service to promote positive learning outcomes for children?’ ERO focuses on the following factors as described in the bicultural framework Ngā Pou Here:
Pou Whakahaere – how the service determines its vision, philosophy and direction to ensure positive outcomes for children
Pou Ārahi – how leadership is enacted to enhance positive outcomes for children
Mātauranga – whose knowledge is valued and how the curriculum is designed to achieve positive outcomes for children
Tikanga whakaako – how approaches to teaching and learning respond to diversity and support positive outcomes for children.
Within these areas ERO considers the effectiveness of arotake – self review and of whanaungatanga – partnerships with parents and whānau.
ERO evaluates how well placed a service is to sustain good practice and make ongoing improvements for the benefit of all children at the service.
A focus for the government is that all children, especially priority learners, have an opportunity to benefit from quality early childhood education. ERO will report on how well each service promotes positive outcomes for all children, with a focus on children who are Māori, Pacific, have diverse needs, and are up to the age of two.
For more information about the framework and Ngā Pou Here refer to ERO’s Approach to Review in Early Childhood Services.
The overall judgement that ERO makes will depend on how well the service promotes positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
Very well placed
Well placed
Requires further development
Not well placed
ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.
ERO reviews are tailored to each service’s context and performance, within the overarching review framework. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to the service.
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
With ongoing support from Northland Kindergarten Association, Hora Hora Kindergarten is well placed to address the key next steps identified in this report.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Hora Hora Kindergarten provides six hour sessions for 40 children over the age of two years. The kindergarten operates with four full time registered teachers and one part time registered teacher. Families attending the kindergarten have a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds. Children transition to many local schools.
The kindergarten philosophy is based on strong, welcoming relationships with families. It reflects teachers’ commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. It aspires to being inclusive and responsive towards families and their children.
ERO’s 2012 report noted children’s confidence in choosing their own play and working together as they engaged with the programme. There were positive and affirming relationships between children and teachers, and the programme was informed by children’s interests. Aspects for improvement in the 2012 report included teachers reviewing the role they have in extending children’s learning. The report also suggested that programme assessment and planning cycles, and self-review practices could improve.
The kindergarten operates as part of the Northland Kindergarten Association. The Association provides governance, leadership and policy frameworks to meet operational management expectations. Association personnel assist teachers to maintain good standards of health and safety and to improve the quality of educational programmes. The Association’s Pūmanawatanga Plan reflects a commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and support for the development of bicultural practices across the organisation.
This review was part of a cluster of 10 kindergarten reviews in the Northland Kindergarten Association.
Teachers at Hora Hora Kindergarten provide programmes aimed at supporting children to have fun and enjoy the company of others as they play. To some extent the programme successfully promotes shared play and opportunities for conversations and collaboration. Children are settled and make choices about their play. They select from a good range of resources and activities provided to promote their learning. Teachers are now well placed to continue to develop teaching practices that support children’s learning.
Children and their families are warmly welcomed by teachers at the start of the day. Family members speak well of the teachers’ inclusion of their families in the life of the centre. Parents contribute to and support the programme through their own skills and interests.
Teachers respond well to children’s play ideas, asking questions to promote answers about what children are doing and adding additional vocabulary. Where this happens, children are eager to play for long periods. Other children stay at activities for short periods. Teachers could support children to participate more fully in the programme. This would enable conversations that deepen children’s understanding and confidence in sharing their thinking and ideas about their play. Teachers have started to promote leadership for children in the programme.
Children demonstrate understanding of te reo Māori and use words and phrases in their play. They also know greetings and words in home languages of other children. Children’s diverse cultures are respected and valued in resources that reflect their home environments. This cultural recognition, which teachers integrate thoughtfully, contributes to children’s positive settling.
Teachers analyse children’s learning in portfolios and show what is happening in the programme. Planning is based on what teachers know about children’s interests. Teachers should now ensure that assessment portfolios record children’s progress over time. They should also show the ways in which the programme responds to parents’ aspirations for their children.
Teachers are beginning to share some tasks and leadership responsibilities. There is still a need to continue to build a collaborative team that can support the development of teaching strategies to benefit all children’s learning. The team intends to use appraisal systems more effectively to identify where teaching practices need strengthening.
The Northland Kindergarten Association provides effective governance for kindergartens. Its long-term direction focuses on making decisions to improve learning outcomes for children. Positive strategies include:
Association leaders are considering ways to enhance teacher appraisal processes and systems for self review. ERO recommends that the Association strengthens systems to ensure that all health and safety requirements are being implemented.
Teachers and ERO agree that self review should be used to determine:
ERO determined, in consultation with the Association Professional Practice Manager, that the Association should take urgent action and work with teachers to improve and strengthen programmes, teamwork and further developments at Hora Hora Kindergarten.
Before the review, the staff and management of Hora Hora Kindergarten completed an ERO Centre Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they have taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
During the review, ERO looked at the service’s systems for managing the following areas that have a potentially high impact on children's wellbeing:
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
To improve practice and safety the kindergarten should ensure that safety surfacing around the climbing frame is adequate and well maintained.
The next ERO review of Hora Hora Kindergarten will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
10 September 2015
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Location |
Whangarei CBD, Northland |
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|
Ministry of Education profile number |
5011 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children, including up to 0 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
49 |
||
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Gender composition |
Girls 25 Boys 24 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Indian Filipino Chinese other |
11 23 4 3 2 6 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
July 2015 |
||
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Date of this report |
10 September 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
February 2009 |
||
|
Education Review |
March 2006 |
Within these areas ERO considers the effectiveness of arotake – self review and of whanaungatanga – partnerships with parents and whānau.
ERO evaluates how well placed a service is to sustain good practice and make ongoing improvements for the benefit of all children at the service.
A focus for the government is that all children, especially priority learners, have an opportunity to benefit from quality early childhood education. ERO will report on how well each service promotes positive outcomes for all children, with a focus on children who are Māori, Pacific, have diverse needs, and are up to the age of two.
For more information about the framework and Ngā Pou Here refer to ERO’s Approach to Review in Early Childhood Services.
The overall judgement that ERO makes and the timing of the next review will depend on how well placed a service is to promote positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.
ERO reviews are tailored to each service’s context and performance, within the overarching review framework. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to the service.